A Blind Path to Independence
by KoiFishDreams
Summary: Waking in a world filled with ninjas, children trained to kill, and militaristic villages can be scary for anyone. Especially when you're reborn as blind and dependant on those around you for survival. Can Yuki fulfill her dreams of becoming independent and strong enough to protect the people precious to her? Follow the story of the disabled ninja as she proves herself capable.
1. chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the series Naruto.**

When I first came to awareness the world was dark and I was weak.

I don't remember the first few months (was it a year? Two?) that I found myself in this new predicament. I don't remember anything except the things I'm not supposed to. Things I couldn't have experienced, things I never could have done.

I remember long limbs that moved on command and long nights wrapped up with a book.

I remember laughter and coherent thoughts with conversations based upon those thoughts and debates that followed.

I remember the color blue, the color green. _I remember colors._ _I remember light._

But this didn't make any sort of sense at the time, my head felt sluggish, and I went back to my sleeping and to being oblivious.

*

I often woke up from my slumber to be fed and would wonder lazily where I was. I knew I should be worried, I knew that what was happening should be terrifying but I couldn't bring myself to care. There were no thoughts in my head and I didn't question the hand that fed me. I was sleepy so I slept.

*

The dark was persistent and my keeping of time lacking. My limbs wouldn't obey my will and I felt frustrated at my own boredom and uselessness. I recognized I often woke and went back to sleep almost immediately. My life becoming a series of naps.

*

I was cared for and played with regularly, in some part of my thoughts I could recognize this as a routine and gladly went along with it. I loved the order, I loved the routine.

There were two voices in my world who would often talk to me in words I didn't understand. That was okay though, they didn't understand me either. (My tongue felt too thick, my lips wouldn't form the words.)

My world was still dark but these voices made it more real, confirmed that this was reality and not the dreams of swirling colors that became more and more dull with time. When I reached out my hands theirs would meet mine and hold me. (When did I get so small? When did it get so dark?) One of the voices was a deep male's with a strict undertone, his hands felt rough and calloused, and the other voice was more feminine and gentle, it was more comfortable when she was the one to hold me and I was grateful for her hands which held me more often compared to the male's. The male appeared rarely and would only visit me when it seemed he was on the edge of my own forgetfulness. The woman was around more often and talked to me in her strange but familiar language, I was happy with the attention.

*

This was my life for many months and I quickly tried to absorb every word she told me. Tried to understand what was happening and why it was so _dark_ but I was so sleepy and my mind so full of cotton. I couldn't figure out why I should care.

*

The day I learned _her_ name was the day I came to my terrifying realization. I was in my box (a softly padded thing that seemed to have bars surrounding it. I've tried crawling out but my muscles still wouldn't cooperate with me and my arms would flap about uselessly more often than not.) She had been talking to me in a loving tone like she usually would when I fussed. Her words of comfort holding me still, holding me calm. _"shh, Yuki, shh. It's okay."_ These words were familiar. I knew these words. She'd said them often enough. I tried to copy them but butchered them with my babbles instead. My babbling must've convinced her of my now soothed nerves and her talking stopped. I didn't like this and I showed her as much when my fussing came back with a vengeance. She giggled amusedly at this and her talking continued.

 _She sounds so pretty_ , I thought. I wanted to see this kind woman who had cared for me these long hours in all of my moments of weakness and dependence. I reached for her voice because I couldn't see where her face shown. Her face felt soft and round and I quickly appreciated the features I imagined her with as I felt out their shapes. A small nose and mouth with wide eyes, the features of a doll. This discovery satisfied me as I was now sure that this woman was as pretty as she sounded.

I was still feeling her face when her hold on me shifted and one of her hands came to lightly grasp mine. With my hand she patted her face and said in a distinctly slow voice, _"mom"_ She did this several times and I recognized this as a gesture of greeting. She was giving me her name. A name I recognized and one I had used often before and had once been called, too long ago to clearly remember. I felt my heart sink. She was mom. She was _mom._ The woman who had taken care of me through my struggling awareness and the eternal dark I found myself in. The one who brought food to me and kept me entertained in the near constant boredom of being solely dependent and unable to move freely on my own. She wasn't just mom. She was _my_ mom. I was her _child_. No, not a child. I was a baby, maybe a toddler. I couldn't tell because I couldn't _see._ I I could only assume by the length of my limbs and torso and the oh so frustrating lack of dexterity I had with them. It was this moment all of the pieces in my head clicked and I came to full awareness. I was a baby, reborn, and I was blind.

*

With this new awareness came the feeling of terror and a level of nervousness my infant mind had yet to experience. Tears quickly followed my revelation and the woman, my mother, panicked at this outburst. Looking back on it now I realize this was my first full blown tantrum as a child. I was not happy and I was going to let her know as much. At a loss of how to comfort me, the woman bounced me up and down softly cooing for me to calm down.

It was also at this moment, the moment I clearly remembered having lived a life before, that I felt my tentative awareness invaded with a sense alien to me. My mind seemingly now adjusted well enough to get me out of whatever lethargic shock I had been in assaulted me with this new information as a new sense made itself known to me. It wasn't a sense of seeing as much as feeling without directly touching all the pieces to a blurry puzzle. This was an awareness of how the woman who held me was positioned and how she felt at that moment. Despite being in her arms and clearly in contact with her my sense went further and I knew how she had her legs crossed one over the other as she sat on what I assumed to be a chair and how her head tilted towards me in concern. I sensed myself relative to her positioning and felt how small I was compared. She felt like a gentle breeze that was now blowing and spiking worriedly as I, her daughter, cried out on this new realization of my situation and the onslaught of this new sense.

This continued on for more than a few minutes, what felt like hours to me, until finally I felt a pressure in my head and a strain in my limbs. My lids grew heavy and I fell asleep crying in this woman's, my mother's, arms.

*

My new awareness was both a boon and a bane. A boon in that the cotton had finally cleared my mind and my sense of self and time grew. A bane that I now knew these things and had an overwhelming sense of presence that my infantile mind could hardly handle the complexity of. I estimated that I was around a year (and maybe a half) years old but my assumption was still shaky at best. Laying in what I now recognized as my crib I lost myself in my thoughts and considered myself to the best of my newfound abilities.

I knew I had lived before, that I had grown old and understood that I had died, but I didn't understand how I had ended up here. I never held any stock in the belief of reincarnation and definitely never expected to remember my past life if I were to have one. Was this some fault of the universe?

My memories were incomplete, I could only remember the bare minimum. I knew that I knew the words my mother spoke, I had heard them before and recognized them as such but the memories were passive at best and I couldn't recall them or their meanings at my will. It was only the impression of things with a surety of them having had happened that pushed me to my conclusions. Not only that but the sixth sense I was now experiencing was overwhelming and settling as a feeling of fullness within me.

It made me feel slow in my movements and I struggled to lift my limbs as I had previously done. It seemed easier to do when I didn't focus on the weight of this new sense within me. My knowledge of its existence was hindering me now and I quickly came to the conclusion that I had to act as if it wasn't there. I'd never considered myself spiritual but the feeling was akin to having an extra spirit lying behind my skin and I could feel the subtle thrum of energy it tried to give me and my actions. My knowledge of it being there added weight to it, for certainly a weight should exist there if something extra was within my body. My mother's own energy quickly put a stop to those thoughts though as I noticed her wind like presence seemed to flutter around what I assumed was our household. She moved so easily and I couldn't help but wonder how it was so easy for her to move around when I felt the same kind of fluttering energy within me as well. I couldn't seem to sense her when she reached a certain distance away from me and I struggled to stay awake after having focused on her specific energy for more than a few minutes. Whatever this new sense was it seemed to be muscle like and my own energy dimmed after following my mother's for any semblance of time. Even with its limited effects I was grateful as it gave me some form of sight and awareness that I could make sense of. My feeling of uselessness diminished slightly and my sense of vulnerability increased as I realized my exact situation.

I was afraid and so I slept until the next time mother would wake me.

*

I was sitting up in my crib pulling at a stuffed animal my mother had given me days ago the next time the male visited me. The toy was soft and gave me something to do besides messing with the tiring energy within me. I could sense the man's apathy as he walked in and a thinly veiled relief at seeing me so active. His energy was different than my mother's and seemed to fill whatever room he was in, bigger and more active.

"She's made progress then?" his voice was gruff as he asked my mother.

Her energy fluttered in excitement and relief as she replied to him, "It happened a week ago, one day she just seemed so much more awake and alert. I took her to the doctor and they said whatever had been affecting her doesn't seem to be now."

"And they never found out what was wrong with her in the first place?" his voice was laced with accusing disapproval.

"They think because of her blindness she may not have been as.. present as she should have been." My mother's voice was hesitant and nervous and I felt the urge to reach out for her. She always seemed more content and reassured when she held me. "They said if any further issues press that we should take her to a Yamanaka for further evaluation."

The man's energy thrummed in heavy disapproval and I felt his calculating gaze on me, "I'll give you enough money for the month to care for the infant. I want to be updated on any further signs of progress in the future."

"You don't want to hold her?" My mother's energy fluttered hopelessly and her voice reflected it in desperation.

The man's energy felt completely walled off from me and his emotions unreadable, "No, I'll take my leave now."

"But she's your daughter!" My breath held at my mother's exclamation and I lifted my head to the man's presence. I couldn't see him but I could better focus my sixth sense this way. This man was my father and it appeared he wanted nothing to do with me.

"She's a bastard of my clan and has no future as a ninja." I blinked slowly at his terminology. Clan? Ninja? What was that? I got the vague sense of people dressed in all black and throwing knives at each other.

So I was a bastard who couldn't follow his dream career for me because of a disability I had no control over and his solution was to practically leave raising me to my mother. Father of the year, surely.

"She's still your child!" My mother's voice was angry now and I winced. Angry mothers were never a good thing.

"And I've taken responsibility for that but don't bother to think she'll ever be a part of my clan."

"The clan isn't everything! You can still be a father!"

The man's, my father's, energy flared at this and seemed to sharpen for a second. My own energy was feeling drained at this point and I had no idea how much longer I'd be able to stay awake. "I am a prideful man, Mizu, you know this. I will not allow you to discredit me further. My place is within my clan and I will not have this girl become a dishonor." And with that he was gone and my mother still buzzing with an anger rare of her and a hollowness I couldn't place.

Huffing, my mother swept towards me and lifted me into her arms, "That stubborn, stubborn man," She grouched. "Well, we don't need him, Yuki. Your mother has friends in some pretty high places and I don't mind pulling a few strings to keep that _prideful_ man and clan of his out of our lives if they don't want us anyways." She was talking from anger that much I could tell but the conviction in her voice threw me through a loop. How long had this argument been going on between the two? Was it truly at this point of separation and could my mom even support us on her own? Nothing in my memory reassured me that she had a job of sorts and she was almost always in my range of sensing. I would trust her though. She was my caregiver after all and I would have to trust her judgment.

Slowly I lifted my hand to pat her face in what I thought would be considered a reassuring way. Her energy felt amused at my childish actions and I gave her my biggest, sleepiest, smile.

Yes, I would trust this woman with my future.

 **A/N: Well, this isn't my first fanfiction but the first one of mine on this site. I had this idea for an original character for a few weeks and now I'm putting it to life. To clear things up, Yuki doesn't know her exact age at the moment and is only guessing her way through things at the moment. She's probably as confused as you are. She is a Chakra sensor but since she's so young it wears her out to be focusing her Chakra so much so early on in her life. And another thing, I'm not going to religiously keep things canon because doing the homework for that is just silly with how big the Naruto series is. I will keep the events mostly the same I think but dialogue will be mostly out the window and up for my own interpretation. Don't worry, the overall plot of Naruto will be kept. I am of the opinion that throwing an original character in the mix will automatically make the story an alternate universe so expect things to become different.**


	2. chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own the series Naruto.**

 **Pronunciation Key:**

 **Kabuske (Caw-boo-Skay)**

 **Mizu (Me-zoo)**

 **Yuki (You-key)**

 **Reiji (Rai-Gee)**

Life settled a bit after my parents had their argument. Me and my mother stayed at my first home for a little over a week before she started packing our things. Throughout the following days mother would come and go from the house for short periods of time as she prepared for our move. I was never alone for long as she'd come back soon, albeit a little breathless and fidgety. Her energy would flutter nervously at times like these and it was then that I chose to fuss in order to keep her thoughts and doubts from her. She always seemed more determined after spending the time with me.

*

The day we moved from my first home was the day I felt sunlight on my skin since coming to this new world and regaining my awareness. The outdoors smelled fresh as mother held me against her hip and I wiggled precariously in her arms to be able to use all of my working senses to their fullest extent. I could hear the birds chirping and the noise of people, I could smell the green of grass and trees, and feel the cusp of the wind as it blew past me. My hair tickled around my ears and I smiled widely, today was a nice day and I so wish I could explore. Reaching out to the vast mystery of my surroundings, I leaned away from my mother and I could feel her amusement and worry. I didn't pay attention though as I could sense the excitement of the nearby children as they played mingle with my own excited curiosity for the world.

"I'm sorry Yuki, we have things to do today but we can come out again another day." My mother's voice reassured me. Wiggling rebelliously for a moment I finally settled in her arms. She had said we would go out again and I had no voice to argue with. A part of me wondered why it was she waited so long to take me outside though. Had I really been that badly off? I could vaguely remember trips to the doctor where my mother and sometimes my father would take me for check ups. Those had always been close to evening and the sun never strong enough the bathe me in its blanket of warmth. The streets had been quiet then.

Now the streets were a buzz with activity as we left our previous residential area and the smells and noise pressed against me as my mother held a one sided conversation. "I think you'll like it, Yuki. It's a bit expensive but my friend wanted to move out of his apartment anyways and didn't mind chipping in with the cost." My mother's voice spoke in an excited tone, repeating the things she'd told me throughout the week. This quirk of hers amused me, as I thought she often carried a conversation with me if only to remind herself of the things currently happening and not to seem as if she were talking to herself. I humored her with a small babble. Talking was a bit out of my grasp at the moment as I was unsure if I should talk back at my age or not. It was safer to babble until I knew my age and so I babbled. Her energy seemed unconcerned at my way of communicating and that was all the encouragement I needed. Plus avoiding the embarrassment of mispronouncing words due to toddler lip dexterity was also a good motivator.

When we got to the busier parts of the town the noise and activity quickly became bothersome as my curiosity turned into over stimulation. My senses were bombarded with the sound of customers and vendors talking with each other, sometimes at yelling volumes, and the smell of food and people mixed in an overly rich way. My sixth sense was also overwhelmed as I sensed all who entered my range and the influx of information flooded my head to a near tipping point. Instinctively I pulled my energy sense closely to me and cut off any further connection of it to the outside world.

The now pounding of my head made it hard to think but a part of me noted the new discovery of control I had over it. Tears pricked my eyes as I hid my face into the crook that connected my mother's shoulder to her neck, her hair hiding me as I used my hands to cup my ears and smother the noise. My mother bounced me up and down noticing my discomfort and I was lulled to sleep by the familiar movement and her reassuring voice, "We'll be there soon Yuki."

*

I woke up in my crib and the sluggishness of my limbs made itself quickly apparent as I tried to sit up. My sixth sense must've been overused as I remembered the stress the activity of the town had caused it. Where was my mother and weren't we going to our new home?

"You hired some genin to get the rest of your stuff, right?" A voice I didn't recognized hollered a bit distantly and I froze at its suddenness.

"Yeah, I went ahead and bought a few new things since Yuki is getting bigger. So all I'm really waiting for is my bed and a few boxes." My sixth sense lashed out at the closeness of my mother's voice, I had had no idea she was so near and it bothered me that I was in unfamiliar territory. I grasped at my blankets and realized this was in fact _not my crib_ and had much more room for me to spread my limbs. I reached for the familiar smooth bars and was met with ones that were engraved with a sort of pattern.

Bought new things indeed, mother. I did not approve.

I had realized what moving homes would mean and trusted my mother knew what she was doing but I didn't take into account my dependence of the familiarity of my last home and I felt upset at the loss.

I heard footsteps come into the room and noted that the floors sounded wooden, "Was that you just now?" The mystery voice asked curiously and a bit on edge. I turned my head towards the newcomer and focused my sense on him trying to get a read on them. The voice was male but sounded more boyish than my father's and his energy felt light and open.

"What do you mean?" My mother turned from whatever she was doing (it sounded like shuffling? I wonder what she was arranging) to question the young man.

"That chakra flare just now. It felt like it came from this room." His energy was alert and I payed all of my attention on him. He said chakra just now. What was chakra?

My mother felt confused for a few moments before answering him, "You know I'm no good with that ninja stuff. All of that talent went to my brother."

Mystery voice's energy dampened for a moment before regaining an edge and I could faintly detail the movement of his head as he scanned the room. "Looks like the twerp is up, little thing is staring daggers at me." He said, his gaze settling over me like a weight.

My mother laughed in amusement, "Yeah, she'll do that when she's concentrating on something. I kinda wonder how she learned to glare like her father."

I blinked slowly at this new information and turned my head towards my mother. She didn't feel hurt on the subject of my father, more reminiscent than anything, so I dismissed my concerns and simply pouted. I wanted to be talked to, not about. "She's kinda.. aware isn't she? For being blind, I mean?" The young(?) male asked sounding put off, the edge he had been feeling fading.

"A bit, I've noticed it too. I think she's just catching up from the time she was practically catatonic." Mother replied, her attention turning back to whatever she had been doing.

"Oh yeah, you told me about that. Did you try taking her to a MedicNin?" The mystery voice had now approached me and I could feel him leaning over me. I tried to remember what an unimpressed look was and aimed my best attempt at him. His energy seemed to glow in wary amusement and I got the impression he wasn't too fond of kids.

"No, Reiji didn't want anyone knowing about her so we stayed civilian and under my mother's maiden name." Mother replied now, her energy starting to flutter angrily at the topic of conversation.

"You could've seen a MedicNin still, your family name is still well known among the ranks and no one would've connected that you got down with it with the prude." As he talked over his shoulder to my mother I reached out my hand to where I thought his face was, his energy spiked curiously as he observed my actions and once I knew I found his face I gave him a childish smack. I did not like this man getting in my personal space. "She hit me!"

Mother let out a noise of amusement, "That's what you get for invading her space. Yuki is very smart for her age."

"How old even is the brat?"

"She's two next week." Huh. I was two. Two year olds could talk in small words, couldn't they?

"Two year olds aren't really that smart though, are they? I'm pretty sure I didn't understand personal space till I was like, five." The man responded in a doubtful tone.

I contemplated for maybe a moment before I made my decision, I was gonna wing it. "Who you?" I said in a surprisingly high pitched voice, pointing to where I knew the mystery man was. Both of their energies emitted an astounding amount of surprise and curiosity and I'm pretty sure that was my mother I just heard fall over whatever the heck it was she was doing. Actually, I wanted to know that too. "What doing?" Was my next demand as I pointed at my mother with my other hand, criss crossing my arms one over the other.

"Ah! I'm just going through a box. I can't find a book I wanted to show Kabuske." My mother answered sounding fully flustered at my choice of first words her energy though showed her pleasant surprise.

"You Kabuske?" I asked the man whose energy was a mix of disbelief and humor.

"Yeah, that's me twerp." He answered, his humor showing in his words.

I frowned at him, "You too close. Go away!"

"Yuki!" My mother admonished me, "Kabuske is our housemate! Be nice!"

"Y.. you're not even slightly surprised at her talking just now. Are you?" Kabuske asked in a bit of a deadpan at the unspiraling situation.

"Well, I knew she could mostly understand me whenever I spoke. She acted too receptive to not know. Honestly, it's a relief to know she's so active and smart now." My mother spoke worriedly as she righted herself to a sitting position on the floor. "Reiji thought she'd be too far behind the learning curve."

"Ha, proves that dick wrong." Kabuske sounded a bit too smug about that.

Mother's energy turned reproachful, "Don't use that language around Yuki, she's a sponge at this age."

"Yeah, a sponge!" I backed my mother up.

Kabuske's energy felt akin to a sweat drop.

*

The day was hot and I was left with only Kabuske for company to my horror. Mother had left earlier that day and left me to explore the house while Kabuske made sure I didn't "Get into anything or hurt myself." I enjoyed being out of my crib, the bit of freedom was liberating and the house had enough open space that I didn't run into things too often. I didn't appreciate how Kabuske would laugh everytime I did but contradicting to that feeling though I did like the sound of it. His laugh was very open and hard to ignore. It felt a lot like his energy in its openness and was practically inviting other people to laugh with it.

He had that in common with my father. Both of their energies felt big and strangely.. pointed? I got the impression of a knife but that wasn't right either. Compared to my mother's small and fluttering wind like energy, Kabuske's felt earthy and steady. Trained to a point. A sharpened tool. Yeah, that felt right. Not a knife per say, but a tool to be used all the same. My curiosity piqued I decided to follow his energy to what a presumed to be his room and knocked on his door. He was really a terrible babysitter.

"What, brat?" He yelled from the other side of the door.

I scowled "Let me in, I have a question." Mother "taught" me more words so I didn't have to skip words to sound more my age. She felt happy to have a smart child and I wasn't willing to deprive her of that.

I heard Kabuske get up from his bed, the lazy ass, and stepped a bit away as he grudgingly opened the door. "Well, ask."

I lifted my arms pleadingly, "In first, question second." Kabuske sighed but picked me up all the same, by now he knew I'd keep pestering him otherwise. I was training him well. After plopping me onto his bed, which led to a fit of giggling on my part as it had caused me to bounce up and down, he demanded me for my question again. "Why is your energy so different from mother's?"

"What do you mean? You mean my chakra?" Kabuske asked perplexed and I nodded my head.

"If that's what it's called then yes! Yours is so big and earthy while mother's is small and windy!" I stated all of this like a complaint. It irked me to know that my only way of seeing was something I knew very little of.

"You.. sense chakra?" Kabuske asked slowly as if he couldn't make sense of it.

"Yes!" I said loudly for emphasis.

"You're two!" He said accusingly, "It shouldn't be possible for you to sense chakra at such an early age. Chakra coils normally don't reach the point of developing enough for activation till at least three."

"Smaller words!" I demanded, "I'm two!"

His energy-chakra fumbled a bit in disbelief, "That's my point!" He yelled exasperated. After giving him a few minutes to calm down he finally sighed and answered my question, "It probably feels different since I'm a ninja and she's a civilian."

I cocked my head to the side, "What's a ninja?"

"We're soldiers for our home village, ours is called Konohagakure." His voice took on a weird teaching tone and I had to smother my amusement.

"Are we the best village?"

"We're only the greatest." The smile in his voice made me beam.

Excitement grew in me as an idea surfaced in my head, "Can I be a ninja too!?" That would solve most of my problems, dad would be happy and come back to mom and I could protect her easily and be of some use around the house.

Kabuske however grew quiet at my question and I felt his chakra swirl in what I assumed was contemplation. It felt like time had slowed to a crawl before he answered, not a yes but not a no, "Maybe."

 **A/N: And that's chapter two. I didn't check as hardcore as I should've for any mistakes so I'm sorry for that. Time for some explanations: Yuki's mother, Mizu, is a young first time mother who is very easy going and doesn't blame Reiji for dissing Yuki, yo. That bit of wisdom will be explored next chapter though as the explanation of why Reiji might not be a complete ass. Kabuske is a terrible name, I agree. He will be important to the plot, bare with him. Yuki right now is a weird mix of adult and toddler. She has all of the intellect ability of an adult but since she can't recall her last life in detail she's only able to act like the kid she truly is. I read a review that said they were hoping Yuki's mother would be a strong noble and powerful and I'm sorry to burst your bubble. Even though she won't be a strong ninja she will be a strong character.**

 **Lastly and most importantly, Updates will be sporadic, my dudes. best case will be twice a week worse will be once every two weeks.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own the series Naruto.**

Some days were harder than others and it was the hard days that left me unwilling to get out of my crib and explore my tiny world. It were these times that I could still imagine myself as a woman grown and hear the laughter of children. My children. What were they doing now? I couldn't even remember their names. Two sides of me seemed constantly at battle with the other, either I be a toddler with an overwhelming amount of intellect with an unquenchable curiosity or I would be a woman stuck in a child's body mourning the loss of a life she no longer remembered.

Some days were simply harder.

*

Kabuske had told me if I learned the layout of my house and didn't run into anything for a week he'd convince mother to take me outside for more than a trip to the market. Easy enough, challenge accepted.

Except that was what I thought around a month and a half ago. That ass hasn't stopped laughing anytime I manage to trip or bang into something. I swear he's moving the furniture around.

Kabuske became a constant in my life whenever my mother had to go out. Apparently she had gotten a job or something of that nature, she tended not to talk about it much and I had yet to ask for details. She seemed unhappy with it but also resigned, I was at a loss of how I could cheer her up.

Kabuske was just lazy so he ended up staying at the house more often than not saying he was on "Medical leave" yet I had been unable to sense or recognize any injury he may have. I asked about it once before and he simply told me it wasn't that kind of injury, I was confused on what that could mean, but I was grateful for the company. I'd never been without someone nearby for more than a hour and the thought of being alone and vulnerable in an unfamiliar place often terrified me, even if it was a place I had lived in for many weeks now. Without my sight I could only do so much, yes, the sensing helped me when a person was nearby but otherwise I was lost to the world, which brings me back to my earlier problem.

"It's not funny Kabuske! You're moving the furniture around!" I yelled furiously as I hopped on one foot, my other foot clutched in my hands and tears pricking the corners of my eyes. Kabuske only laughed harder and his howling laughs grinded on my nerves.

"I am not, you brat. It's not my fault you can't memorize your own damn house!" He hollered at me through his laughter, his energy rolling in amusement and mischievousness.

I faced him with a scowl on my face, "I know you're lying!"

His laughter was finally dying down and the mirth rolled off him in waves, "Yeah, yeah. Alright. I admit I've been moving things around somewhat, but being a ninja means you gotta be aware of your environment at all times and you can't even get around your own home." The teacher tone had entered his voice again and I internally groaned. Since the day I asked if I could be a ninja Kabuske had taken it upon himself to slip me in "lessons" at my own expense.

"I'm two." I complained.

"A two year old that could probably qualify to enter the academy if not for your disability." Kabuske pointed out briskly.

Blinking slowly, I thought about that. I realized I was smart for my age, my mind having already developed past its years, and that my chakra sense was also advanced but I was still only two and I still often wobbled when I walked. "I don't think I would? I mean, I think I'm smart but I'm not physically fit enough and sensing chakra still wears me out when I focus on it for too long. "

Kabuske didn't even take the time to ponder this, "Muscle coordination can be taught. Once you're able to have some semblance of environmental awareness I'll start you on some stretches and katas. You're young so focusing on flexibility now will make it easier in the future. Chakra control also comes with practice. I can probably start you on the leaf exercise today, yuh know, if you're done stubbing your toes." At this last part the grin had entered back into his voice and I scowled in his direction.

Kabuske had put a surprising amount of thought into how to train me and I was glad to know he cared as much as he did. Part of me was still suspicious of this seemingly young man around my mother but the constant company and the fact he did seem to genuinely care for me and my mother's well being had been successfully melting my nerves of him so far. "Alright, what's the leaf exercise?" I asked, my tone showing my wariness of the new task.

Kabuske's chakra was amused, "Well, we've established that you can sense chakra and even focus on that sense, which means your already molding it to an extent, but the question remains if you're aware of what your doing or if it's all instinct."

"Molding it?"

"You said you can focus it right?" As he said this Kabuske approached and crouched down in front of me, he then tapped my forehead, "You usually scrunch your face up when you do and seem more aware of other people's actions as well. "

I nodded my head, "Sometimes if I focus I can tell if someone is shaking their head or waving their arms. Usually I just _know_ they're there, except for mom. I can always tell what mom is doing."

"Right, you're directing your own personal chakra into strengthening your sensing, aptitude be damned, no one can sense that well without some kind of control over their own chakra." Kabuske explained.

I made an "oh" face, of course I had my own chakra. Hadn't I noticed the same fluttering energy of my mother's chakra in me as well? With my face set in a mask of complete seriousness I demanded of Kabuske to, "Get me a leaf."

Chuckling at what I assume to be my facial expression I sensed Kabuske get up, "Alright brat, I'll be right back."

I heard his footsteps trail off to where I had discovered the entrance way was, on one of the days I took to learn the house layout, and heard the door open. Kabuske hesitated though, I felt his chakra spike rapidly in a panicky way. A breeze flowed into the house from the now opened door and the sound of panting followed it.

A door slammed.

"You know what, kid? Let's try this another day. I'm heading to bed." Kabuske's voice was gruff and exhausted and I frowned in worry.

"Kabuske?"

"Just leave me alone right now, brat." His voice shook as he moved to his room.

A second door shut.

"You're supposed to be watching me.." I muttered as I was left alone in the dark.

 **A/N This chapter is exceptionally short and accomplished only 1/3 of the things I wanted to establish in this chapter. Due to stress recently though I had gotten really sick and under the weather. I am getting better now but expect another week before hoping for another longer chapter. The mother is not forgotten and her job isn't anything shady it's just something that is gonna establish her as a stronger character and develop her a bit. Kabuske's "injury" was gonna be further explored this chapter but I wanted to give the readers something to read and stop hiding from the shame of not posting anything. I'm sorry for the wait. Please wait a little longer.** **I'm going to try to wrap up this childhood arc in the next two chapters but worse case scenario expect three.**


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